Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), India's first-ever professional table tennis league, is here and ESPN gives you a lowdown on everything that you need to know about it.
WHEN: July 13-30
WHERE: Chennai (first leg, July 13-20), Delhi (second leg, July 21-25) and Mumbai (final leg, July 26-30)
TEAMS: Six teams in all, devoid of city affiliations - Bayside Spinners, Challengers, Dabbang Smashers, Maharashtra United, Oilmax Stag Yodhas and RP-SG Mavericks.
PLAYERS: A total of 48 players (24 male and 24 female) with an equal number of Indian and foreign players. Each team will have eight players, four Indian and four foreign, apart from one Indian and foreign coach each.
FORMAT: Each team will play nine matches in a tie with each match being a best of three games, race to 11 points. The team that wins at least 14 games or more of the total 27 games wins the tie with the top four teams progressing to the playoffs.
STAR QUOTIENT: In the men's half, three top-20 foreign players - Wong Chun Ting (Maharashtra United), Marcos Freitas (Dabang Smashers) and Tiago Apolonia (RP-SG Mavericks), apart from the likes of British star Liam Pitchford (Falcons), will be seen in action with India's most seasoned and highest-ranked name Achanta Sharath Kamal, leading the home charge. Recent encouraging results by Indian players - the duo of Anthony Amalraj and Soumyajit Ghosh winning the Chile Open in April this year being the first instance of Indian men winning a doubles title in either the ITTF Challenge Series or the ITTF World Tour, could add to some interest. The gulf between Indian and foreign players in the women's contest though is a lot more yawning. Up against formidable names like Han Ying (Challengers) and the sole player from China in the league, Wu Yang (Falcons) both ranked inside the top 15, Indian women, led by Manika Batra, will have their hands full.
MONEY INVOLVED: Each franchise has paid Rs 2.6 crore for a ten-year deal with players' salaries ranging from Rs 1.5 lakh to 20 lakh. Of the total purse of Rs 3 crore, the winning team will get Rs 1 crore as prize money.